Luxembourg ends Israel Bonds approvals, leaving future EU bond issuance uncertain
From September 1, Luxembourg will no longer approve sale of Israel Bonds, and it remains unclear if Israel will be able to continue issuing them in the EU.
According to an official statement from Luxembourg’s financial authority, which is a major EU and euro zone financial center, it will stop approving the prospectuses required by EU law to offer Israel Bonds, which are aimed primarily at Diaspora Jews and pro-Israel Jewish organizations. Israel Bonds raising in the EU represents a minority of Israeli Bonds issued, but were used to raise more than $2.5 billion in 2025, and a similar amount in 2024, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Luxembourg’s announcement is an embarrassment for Israel, as the country was only chosen a year ago by the Ministry of Finance to replace Ireland, where sweeping criticism of Israel’s policy in Gaza and the administered territories led to unprecedented pressure on the central bank to stop approving prospectuses.
As of September 1, 2026, it is unclear which of the 27 EU member countries will approve prospectuses that allow debt to be raised through these non-marketable government bonds. The Central Bank of Ireland told the country’s media that it had not received a request from Israel to re-approve prospectuses, as of last week.
According to EU law, a member state of the EU is required to approve a prospectus for any issuance of non-marketable bonds by a country outside of it. Until the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in 2020, the UK was responsible for this in the Israeli context, and London was the financial center where the bonds received the required legal approval.
